AFTER four unsuccessful planning application for a Chai Village on the outskirts of Bradford city centre, the applicant is now asking a Government inspector to decide on the plans.
The developers behind Chai Village on Thornton Road are appealing the decision by Bradford Council to refuse a retrospective plan for the cafe business.
A planning application for a café made out of a shipping container at 138-140 Thornton Road was first submitted to Bradford Council in 2021.
But the plan was refused a few months later, with planning officers saying the business would impede the regeneration of the Conservation Area site, and that the development was “poor quality".
The site had previously been earmarked for a multi-million-pound retail and residential development.
Work had already started on the site before the refusal, and the Chai Village was completed in 2022 without any planning permission in place.
A second application was then submitted but later withdrawn.
This was followed by a third – this one included a large LED screen that was already installed on the site.
That was refused earlier this year, with planners saying the screen could distract drivers on the busy road, and disturb people living nearby.
A fourth application was then submitted. Planning officers declined to consider this application, pointing out that it was similar to a previous application they had already approved, that had not been appealed.
Now a fifth attempt to retain the business on the site has been submitted in the form of a planning appeal that will be decided by a Government-appointed planning inspector.
The appeal, by Chai Village LTD, says the LED screen will only be used to display adverts, and will not produce any noise.
It adds: “The noise of cars arriving and departing the site would be a moot point as there is a 24-hour tyre service to the West of the site, a hand car wash over the road, and Thornton Road is one of the main arteries into Bradford city centre."
The appeal claims: “We would like to make it known that we were not given the opportunity to remedy or to clarify any of these points at all during the whole application process.
“We had no correspondence from the Council during the whole application process and no updates.
“We feel as though the Council are wanting there to be a very specific development done on the site.”
A Bradford Council spokesperson said: “As with any appeal on a planning decision this will be processed in the usual way. We will address the comments from the appellant in our appeal statement.”
No date for the appeal decision has been set.
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